C'tan

Nihl C'tan (born April 1, 2340) is the second Vice Emperor of the Empire, and has been since 2385.

Born of Blood
Born Nu-Khzi Berith on Respatur colony, Suriko system, Shrike Abyssal in 2340, the man now known as C'tan developed martial skills early. The Shrike Abyssal earned the reputation as the most violent sector of Alliance space due to its tenuous location as the border between the Corporate Combine and the 'Ageless Void' - a region of space controlled almost entirely by pirate fleets, mercenary gangs, and shady cartels. Respatur itself was relatively small, around fifty million colonists, and operated by the Primogen Bionetics corporation. It wouldn't be until years after the destruction of Respatur colony that it would come to light that colonists had only been settled there by Primogen in order to conduct genetic modification on fetuses and children. It can be assumed that C'tan was one of them.

In 2354, the Shrike Abyssal figuratively exploded in the event known as the Pyralis Blitz. When the omorian Raider Clans eventually reached Respatur, the colony was all but abandoned by Primogen and the entire Corporate Combine. A few high-profile executives and management personnel were evacuated and the colonists were left for dead. It is estimated that millions of omorian shock troops and "Blaze Raiders" landed on Respatur and began pillaging, annihilating entire cities and villages as they carved across the surface of the planet. When the 3rd Allied Fleet arrived in 2357, three years later, expecting to find naught but dust and ash, they instead found one small outpost had remained relatively intact.

Outpost Zeta-Chi had been a settlement of only about forty colonists, and was likely one of the most intensive genetic modification sites operated by Primogen. Four teenage children led by Berith had carved out a sustainable territory that the omorians had clearly learned (rather recently) to avoid. Omorian corpses were burned and impaled for nearly a mile around the complex, and the Operations Center, which housed the only functional sensor node for several-hundred kilometers, was literally fortified by a wall of omorian skull plates. These "children" had become the most feared creatures on Respatur, and the omorians refused to traffic anywhere near Zeta-Chi as the Allied Marines landed.

The "Born of Blood," as the Marines called them, fired on any intruder - including Marines. The choice came down to three possible options. Either the site would be purged from orbit by a mass cannon, the children would be left to their fate for what could be decades before new human settlement was attempted, or someone would have to go in unarmed and attempt to talk to them. Nobody volunteered for the third option - at first. Eventually Corporal Khyber Dominar tossed down his battle rifle and slowly stepped into the perimeter of the camp. Conspiracy theorists today argue that perhaps it was planned by shadowy overlords, but Berith and Dominar met that day under strange circumstances.

By the end of the brief negotiation, the two young men stepped out beyond the skull wall. The Born of Blood had agreed to leave with the Marines, provided they were permitted to join. Seeing their chain of command was well-established and the children were clearly as-well or more effective in combat than the majority of his own troops, the General in command promoted Dominar to Sergeant and gave him command of the Born of Blood team, along with two other fireteams and a support Corporal. It has been argued that Berith and Dominar made further agreements in this meeting as well, but this is purely speculation. The fact that this Corporal met his demise in the very next mission and was replaced by Berith is very interesting, however.

Born of Steel
The Wailing War was a series of major and minor conflicts throughout the Shrike Abyssal, Ageless Void, and the fringes of the Omorian Hegemony. A particularly troublesome group the Alliance faced were the Stars of Perdition, a mercenary force working for the omorians that had obtained highly-restricted weaponry from raids on the outposts of several advanced Council races. The Stars of Perdition managed a handful of heavily-fortified bases on dead worlds with ammonia atmospheres and nearly 2G pressures. Consisting of humans, omorians, and a handful of firaxans, and operated by a group of leaders known only as "Angels," the Stars had raided human colonial outposts for years. Eventually the 3rd Allied Fleet was brought into the conflict, to support the 2nd and 6th. Berith had long since assumed the name of Asmodai, and still operated as Corporal to Sergeant Dominar. They woke one morning to the screams and tears of the medical crew of their vessel.

The omorians had paid the Stars of Perdition to cleanse the border colony of Haven and the 3rd Fleet was being sent to ensure this important spearhead of human efforts remained intact. When the Fleet exited hyperspace, they found the entire planet on fire. The omorians had loaded an asteroid with airburn munitions and flung it to the world below. It had not only created a massive crater and killed all the humans settled there, but had ignited the atmosphere of the entire planet, and consumed most of the biosphere. Once a rare jewel, a garden world, capable of sustaining advanced multicellular life... now reduced to ash and doomed to millions of years of cold and death. Council treaties and Alliance rules of engagement had forbidden the use of planet-killing weapons, but the Stars of Perdition and the omorian rogue state operated under no such laws.

Most of the conflict that raged in the aftermath of the Fall of Haven is classified, but one particular anecdote in reference to Asmodai remains. In the annihilation of the final Stars of Perdition base in the region, on a particularly harsh world with only a trace atmosphere of xenon and argon, Asmodai and Dominar had reached the furthest chamber inside the facility. It was anticipated that one of the elusive "Angels" would be found there, but upon breaking the sealed door, they found only a huddled mass of recruits who had yet to receive proper training, but who had definitely signed up for the mercenary outfit. Dominar began to radio back for orders, but Asmodai stopped him. It is said that he told the now Emperor, as he hoisted his Flame Cannon salvaged from a dead omorian raider, "I am a dragon, and I eat Stars!" The report is hazy beyond this cryptic line, but it should be noted that while fourteen recruits were documented as having been fortified in the chamber upon entry, only twelve were recovered from the charred carnage. While Asmodai operated under several more aliases during his lifetime, his most recent - Nihl C'tan - is the omorian phrase meaning, "Empty Star-Dragon."

Soon after the conflict ended, Dominar was promoted out of the Marines and into the Navy for some assignment he could not speak of. Asmodai took the new alias of Demanus and finished another tour of duty with the Marines as the new Sergeant of his platoon. Eventually he left the Marines and wandered the Shrike Abyssal, which had once more been left to defend itself. It is worth noting that while fighting was still common in the region, no reports of human colonies being lost came after this period. A new force had arisen in the abyss, but the name and manner of it were unknown. Omorian worlds fell, Combine properties ceased communications with Earth, and the abyss fell silent. Names emerged from time to time. Zenithar, Necros, Nihilus, and even Asmodai were spoken in hushed whispers across the Extranet - but none truly knew what happened there except those who dare not speak further.